Bloodhearts

Chapter nine: Pokémon Cards.

CORY'S POV:

I stay in bed for an entire day, staring at the wall and that fucking movie poster. Marc comes in with some food which he insists I eat. I do so while scowling. I don't try to hide my bad mood. Marc doesn't tell me off for it. I think he's told his friends to give us some space because none of them have been here throughout the day.

"I need to talk to him again," I decide after forcing myself to eat the food. I can't just accept letting him go like this. I get to my feet, but Marc pulls me back down easily.

He sighs. "Cory, I don't think that's a good idea," he tells me. "Give him some space. At least for now."

My response is to glare. "No. He can't shut me out," I argue.

It looks like even Marc's patience is beginning to wear thin. "Okay, come on. We're going for a walk."

He doesn't take no for an answer, and soon, we're just walking around camp, mostly near the crops and the animal enclosures. It's a very obvious attempt to get me to calm down. I just roll with it even if I think it's ridiculous.

I sleep horribly that night and meet at headquarters the next morning, partly relieved that Jay isn't there and partly angry that he isn't. I know he's gone to the center and by the looks of things, I won't be able to talk to him for at least a week. That makes me more cranky than I usually am in the morning.

I get caught on perimeter duty with Jason. He senses my bad mood and keeps giving me these weird looks, telling me he wants to know what's up. When I tell him it's nothing, he stays quiet, watching me crawl into our vehicle, savoring my hurt leg. It still gives me pain but I'm not about to ask for any more pain meds. There might be other people who need it more than I do and we don't exactly have tons of it.

While he drives, Jason keeps glancing my way. When we arrive at our destination, he turns off the engine, rolling his eyes. He looks annoyed.

I narrow my eyes.

"What the hell is the matter with you two?" he asks me. "Why are you fighting again?"

"Ha." I scoff. He's one to talk. He fights with Elena all the time.

I take a deep breath. "We didn't just fight, Jason, we broke up," I admit, trying to say it as quickly as possible.

Jason's jaw drops. "Excuse me?!" he says, dumbfounded.

"I don't want to talk about it," I tell him through clenched teeth.

But Jason ignores that request. "Cory, I don't understand! What happened?"

I laugh bitterly. Jason has this idea that Jay and I can't ever break up, like we've been welded together never to be separated again. I used to think the same way.

"I don't know. Too much happened, I guess..."

I pull myself together and tell Jason what I did and why Jay and I have been fighting so much recently. Jason's expression is blank the whole time because he's still shocked.

"Dude. You definitely need to talk to him as soon as he comes back from the center. Promise me," Jason demands.

I tell him I'll try.

Then we get out of the car to do our duty. I feel so low today and the face of a certain keeps popping up in my mind and I can't erase it. I can't stop seeing the hurt on his face. Hurt I caused. I feel like the worst person ever.

JAY'S POV:

I change out of my uniform and into civil clothes and then fall onto the bed after my argument with Cory. Not even this clothes fit me anymore and I don't move until the the transport arrives. The only thing I want is to take back everything I've just said. I want to forget what Cory told me. I'm not even mad at him, not even surprised. Should I be? It feels like a massive kick to the face, I won't lie, but I've had a bad conscience for some time now about how I've treated him. It's like I can't be happy anymore and I've taken it out on Cory because he was there and did his best to help me. But he doesn't understand. He can never understand.